Remember How We Were Way Back When
by chalantness
Summary: Dick Grayson and the girls throughout his childhood. Dick/Donna, Dick/Bette, Dick/Barbara, Bruce, Alfred, Diana, Shayera, and the rest of the League


**Title: **_Remember How We Were Way Back When__  
_**Rating:** K+  
**Word Count:** 5,000+  
**Characters:** Dick/Donna, Dick/Bette, Dick/Barbara, Bruce, Alfred, Diana, Shayera, and the rest of the League  
**Summary:** Dick Grayson and the girls throughout his childhood.

**Note:** Sorry for the abrupt ending. Yes, there were more parts to this, but they just weren't working out. So I thought I'd turn this chapter into a stand-alone because it was my favorite and I didn't want it to go to waste.

**Remember How We Were Way Back When**

The first girl he develops any feelings for is a girl whose name he never gets to learn.

But she's sitting in the very second row at the circus that day, and when they're bowing, he sees her jumping up and down and clapping. She's got brown hair pulled into pigtails and has a mask similar to his (they sell them at the gift-shop) over her eyes.

After the show, all of the performers are walking around and taking pictures and signing autographs, and he sees her in line at the gift shop.

Everyone around them laughs when she squeals, and he's pretty sure he's blushing when she gives him a big hug and her parents snap a picture. Then one of the photographers offers to take a group picture for them, and even though he'll never get a copy of that picture to remember her by, she pecks his cheek before leaving.

... ...

When his parents die, he remembers the nameless girl for a bit and wishes he could see her, because she gave nice hugs like his mommy and daddy did and he could really use one right now.

Alfred always pats his head and sits him on his knee when he brings meals, and Bruce hugs him a few times and keeps him close, but it doesn't feel the same.

... ...

One night at the Mansion, he's sitting beside Bruce on the couch in front of the fireplace. Bruce is reading the _Gotham Gazette_, andhe only reads the headlines and looks at the pictures and spaces out while he's waiting for Bruce to turn the page.

They obviously don't hear the doorbell (this place is huge), but they hear a knock on the door of the den, and Alfred announces that there are guests.

Dick looks at the clock. It's late, so who could be coming over?

But Bruce is nodding like he was expecting the company, folding the paper as he's getting up, and Dick gets on his knees and leans over the back of the couch to see. There's a man with short, slightly curly hair and glasses over his eyes standing beside a very pretty woman with tanned skin. She hugs Bruce and tucks her bangs behind her ear, talking quietly, and then meets his eyes and smiles.

"Richard," Bruce says, and he swings himself over the back of the couch and walks over to them. "This is Clark and Diana."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Clark says, and he stresses the word _finally _and gives Bruce this smug sort of smile that makes him scowl and makes Dick laugh a little.

Diana shakes her head, kneels down to get about eye-level with him. She gives him this smile before wrapping his arms around him and squeezing in a way that tells him she knows exactly how he came to be in Bruce's care.

He blushes a little and his heart is pounding, but there also tears in his eyes, and he thinks the butterflies in his stomach have nothing to do with having a crush on his woman (he _doesn't_) and everything to do with the fact she sort of reminds him of his mom and hugs like her, too.

They stay over for dinner, and he sits on her lap as they eat and lets her tousle his hair.

... ...

On his first night out as Robin, Wonder Woman and Superman show up, and he lets Diana ruffle his hair and say that he looks adorable in his costume.

He generally hates when words like "adorable," or "cute," or "precious" are applied to him, especially if it's by the socially elite "_friends_" Bruce hangs out with during parties, because he knows they mostly say it as a way to get to Bruce. But Diana is nowhere near them, so it's completely okay when she does it.

... ...

His first real, honest-to-goodness crush is on Bette Kane.

She has curly blonde hair and writes in a neat, loopy cursive with her gel pens and was the first person to really talk to him when he transferred to Gotham Elementary. She doesn't sit next to him in class because it's alphabetical order, but she eats lunch with him and invites him to play with her and her friends at recess.

Everyone sort of treats him like a celebrity because of his relation to Bruce Wayne, and because he scores really high on those tests teachers make him take.

But Bette doesn't.

She complains that his hair is always in his face and that his writing is so sloppy it looks like a bunch of scribbles and that he never finishes everything Alfred packs him for lunch.

Then when Alfred packs him a slice of cake for lunch one day, he cuts it down the middle and hands her one of the halves to eat, and blushes when she squeals a little and kisses his cheek.

(He'll take it far too seriously for the rest of fourth grade.)

... ...

He obviously knows who everyone is on the League, but he doesn't _know_ them.

He _knows _Clark and Diana, and everything he learned about the others is pretty much because he reads their files in the Batcave.

So when Bruce brings him to the Hall of Justice (for his _first time_; he was bouncing in his seat all throughout dinner after Bruce said they'd be leaving once he finished his pasta), it's kind of cool to see them all there in costume and in person. Those who usually wear masks have them off, and they're all sort of sitting around this cafeteria and socializing like people do at Wayne Tech parties.

(Except they're cooler because, you know, _they're the Justice League_.)

The first person he looks for is Diana, and he finds her sitting at a table and talking to a woman with auburn hair and big, brown eyes and giant wings folded behind her back.

He kind of runs over to Diana, and she's laughing as she sits him on her lap. It's kind of their thing now. Then he grins at the Hawks and says, "I'm Robin."

Hawkman lets out a deep chuckle as Hawkwoman smiles, and Robin notices the way she runs her thumb over his knuckles where their hands are clasped atop the table. "What a peaceful little bird to be named after," Hawkman says, "Despite living a crime-fighting lifestyle."

Hawkwoman looks amused. "I think it fits. And I think Bruce needs a little peace in his life." Then she smiles at Robin. "I'm Shayera. This is my husband, Katar."

"Your wings are so cool," Robin comments, and this time, Shayera laughs with Katar. Robin frowns. "What?"

"Would you like to go for a flight?"

... ...

He didn't think much of it at the time, but that flight Shayera takes him on? It's his first _real _time that high up in the air.

Katar and Diana come, too, and the nighttime sky is clear and dotted with billions of stars. He can already spot a few of his favorite constellations that he's seen from books Alfred makes him read before bedtime, and for a few times, they go so high that he feels like he can touch them.

It's kind of _amazing_.

And even though his sleeves are short, he doesn't feel cold at all. He's never had a fear of heights, either, and he's always loved thrills, so the entire thing is kind of a rush.

That's exactly how he describes it to Bruce later that night (technically very, very early in the morning) when he's being tucked into bed.

Then when he tells Bruce that he feels a little bad because likes Shayera a lot, almost as much as Diana, Bruce just chuckles, ruffles his hair so that it falls in his eyes and tells him, "You can love someone new without taking love away from someone else."

... ...

That year on Mother's Day, he and Bruce bring bouquets to the cemetery and set them in front of their parents' graves. Then on their way out to brunch, Bruce asks when he wants to head over to the Watchtower so he can give his gifts to Shayera and Diana. Dick's not sure how Bruce found out about them, but he figures that's okay. He was going to ask him, anyway.

"Bruce," he says softly, making the man look at him. "Is it okay that I want to celebrate Mother's Day with Auntie Diana and Auntie Shay?"

Bruce gives a very, very small smile and a gentle nod.

He tells him about a woman named Leslie Thompkins, who Dick remembers meeting at least once before at one of those fancy parties he gets dragged to. Bruce says that Leslie filled in for his mother and father after they passed away, and now on Mother's Day, he sends her a gift and gives her a call.

... ...

When they go to the Watchtower after brunch, he gives Diana a small jar filled with paper hearts and Shayera a small jar filled with flowers and wishes them both a Happy Mother's Day.

They peck either of his cheeks and call him a sweetheart, and he doesn't feel as bad as he felt about it that morning, or last night when Alfred helped him put their gifts together. He'll always, always love his mom and dad, but he thinks that they'll like that he has Bruce and Diana and Shayera, and Alfred and pretty much everyone else in the League, to love, too.

... ...

He remembers that his very first impression of her was that she's really, really pretty. And that she looks like Diana.

She's his age, maybe a little order, with dark hair pulled into a ponytail and bright blue eyes that sparkle when she smiles. They're the only kids at the Watchtower, and all of the adults are in the conference room and sort of just watching as they meet each other. He wonders why it's so interesting to them.

But he figures he can ask Bruce why later, because Diana is nudging her little sister forward and she kind of laughs when she says, "I'm Donna."

"I'm Robin." He slips in hand in hers, and her skin feels really soft. Her grip is really firm, too, which kind of doesn't go with her soft skin at all, but he thinks that makes her especially interesting.

"See, Bruce?" They both look up at Diana. "They're practically best friends already."

Donna giggles, and Robin's not surprised that, like everything else about her so far, it's very pretty.

... ...

Black Canary is the newest member of the Justice League, and when he first meets her, he tells her that it's cool that she's named after a bird, too. She smiles and ruffles his hair, and when she tells Bruce that it's a good thing she loves kids, Bruce sort of just grunts in response and Dick gives Donna a look as she giggles behind her hand.

"What?" he whispers.

"Batman and Black Canary are cute," she tells him. He just stares at her. "They are!"

Then he looks back at where Bruce and Black Canary are talking, taking in the way Black Canary is smiling and the muted amusement on Bruce's face as he replies every now and then.

He's seen Bruce _pretend_ to be nice with some of the women that crowd around him during Wayne Tech events. But Dick can tell that his adoptive father looks genuinely pleased to be in her presence, even if his frowning and scowling every time Black Canary laughs shows otherwise.

Donna gives him a wink before walking over to Black Canary and asking, "Can you take us out for ice-cream?" Dick frowns in confusion.

But Black Canary goes, "Sure, we'd love to," and the four of them end up changing into civvies, with him and Bruce donning shades, and drive downtown to an ice-cream parlor. He and Donna walk in front of Bruce and Black Canary with their cones in hand, and they talk about different flavors and toppings the entire walk to the park a few blocks away, since it's Donna's first time trying ice-cream.

Once they've finished, he races Donna to the play structure and pretends not to notice the way the other boys and girls stop to watch them run by.

He ends up climbing to the top of the spiral slide, and right before Donna goes first, she points to where Bruce and Black Canary are chatting on the bench. Black Canary leans in and kisses his cheek, and Bruce gives a faint smile.

And Dick doesn't really have time to react, because he feels lips peck his cheek, too, and looks in time to see Donna's ponytail disappear down the curve of the slide, her giggle echoing back at him.

... ...

The next time he sees Donna, he can't help but feel a little weird and he hates it.

He doesn't _want _to be nervous around her, but she's always been pretty to him and she _kissed_ him and he doesn't know what he's supposed to feel about that since they're pretty much each other's only friends.

When Diana brings her to the Mansion because she, Bruce, and Clark have things to discuss and Alfred agreed to watch them, he tries to avoid her. It's pretty hard since he's supposed to be giving her a tour of the place and she's acting like nothing happened at all, so he tries not to talk to her too much. Then when they get to the library, she actually lets out this huff and tackles him from behind.

He's pinned under her with his back against the carpet and her wrists over his, and she's asking, "Why won't you talk to me?"

"You _kissed_ me!" he kind of hisses. He doesn't know how far behind Alfred is.

"It doesn't mean you have to treat me any differently!"

"How else am I supposed to act?"

She blinks, and he wonders, for a split second, if she's going to cry or anything. But this is Donna, and while he's only known her for a short while, he's sure she wouldn't cry over this.

So she just rolls over so that she's lying on her back beside him, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure why I did it," she admits very quietly.

"Do you like me?" he asks, even quieter.

"Of course." He looks at her, finds her smiling at him and giggling a little. "We're friends, right?"

He grins and doesn't pull away when she slips her hand in his. "_Best_ friends."

... ...

Black Canary joins them on patrol one night, and he thinks it's pretty cool that she doesn't have trouble keeping up with them.

She laughs a lot and is awesome at hand-to-hand combat, and he can tell Bruce is impressed, too, even if his expression never shows it. But a few times he sort of just stands aside and watches her kick butt and compliments her once or twice, and he doesn't object as badly as Dick thought he might when Black Canary offers to give him a ride on her motorcycle.

He knows he'll like having her around.

... ...

He's ten and in fifth grade when Barbara Gordon transfers to his school in the middle of the first semester.

Of course Bette is the very first to say hi to her, but since Bette's somehow his best friend now (_at school_, becauseDonna still has that title), he's the very second to greet Barbara.

She looks at them with her bright blue eyes and tucks some of her red hair behind her ear.

At first her expression is hesitant, almost calculating, but then she's smiling and doesn't act at all uncomfortable when Bette pulls her in for a hug and claims how they're going to be best friends. Barbara just laughs and sounds entirely honest when she answers, "I'm sure we will," and Bette is beaming at her.

She sits with them at lunch and Bette separates her bag of cookies onto three napkins so that they all have the same amount.

Bette does most of the talking, which he's used to, but he makes a small comment that makes Barbara laugh and he smiles because, like Bette, she's got a really, really nice voice.

... ...

When he gets home from school one day, Bruce and Dinah are waiting in the sitting room off of the foyer. Dinah is wearing this white sundress with a floppy hat across her lap, and Dick smiles at her because this is the first time he's seen her out of her costume and she's _pretty_.

Bruce smiles, too, and they both stand up from their chairs. "Who's your friend, Dick?"

Dick looks at Barbara and she gives this smile and steps forward a little as she introduces herself. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne. I'm Barbara Gordon. Dick and I are classmates and we got partnered for a science project."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, too, Miss Gordon," Bruce says. Then he asks, "And if you don't mind my asking, you wouldn't happen to be related to Commissioner Gordon, would you?"

Barbara blushes a little. "Oh, yes," she answers, "He's my, um, uncle," and Dick looks at her because didn't she say that Jim Gordon was her dad?

"He's a good man," Bruce tells her, and she nods a little and mumbles a _thank you_. "Well, Dick," he says, turning to the boy, "Dinah and I were wondering if you wanted to eat dinner with us, but if you have to work on a project I guess it can't be helped."

"Why don't they both come with us?" Dinah suggests. "I'm sure they can always work tomorrow. Their teacher wouldn't give them a project that has to be turned in right away."

So after a phone call to Commissioner Gordon to make sure the thing is okay, Alfred calls in their reservations for this restaurant Dick's heard some of Bruce's socialite friends talk about before. They're still in their uniforms, so Bruce has him change into nicer clothes and has Alfred go out and buy Barbara something to change into so she wouldn't have to stay in her uniform.

And it's not until they're sitting next to each other, and he lets Barbara use his napkin to wipe the few drops of water she spilled on herself, that he realizes this is kind of his first date.

... ...

He doesn't mean to laugh, he _doesn't_, but she's kind of hilarious.

They're in the games' room playing pool, him and Donna, and she was telling him about this boy she literally ran into when she was walking around Metropolis the other day, because Diana was visiting Clark and brought her along so she could explore. She was flustered and embarrassed and totally red in the face, and kind of yelled an apology at him then ran away.

"It's not _funny_," she whines, stomping her foot, and Dick holds his hands up in surrender while still chuckling. "It was awful."

"Donna, why'd you overreact?" he asks. She looks at him. "I mean, this isn't your first encounter with boys before, right? You've been living here for over a year now."

She shrugs. "It was my first real encounter with a boy around my age, so maybe that's why."

"No it's not. What about me?"

She rolls her eyes. "Well, yeah, but you're _you_. That doesn't count."

He cannot for the life of him decode what that means.

... ...

Donna is the one to tell him about Bruce and Dinah, and honestly? It hurts a little more than he thinks it's supposed to, and he knows it shows because Bruce pulled him onto his lap as they were watching TV one night (which he hasn't done since Dick first moved in) and told him that he can ask about it one day, when he's older, if he really wants to.

It makes seeing Dinah around the Watchtower a little weird, but she took him out for smoothies one day and ruffled his hair as she told him that just because things between her and Bruce weren't going to be the same doesn't mean she cares for either of them any less.

It still sort of sucks, but he _does_ feel a little better after that. Plus, Bruce gave Dinah this small smile when they got back from their smoothie date, so Dick thinks that they'll probably be okay.

... ...

He sort of thought Donna would be sad about Bruce and Dinah, too, since she'd liked them together a lot.

But she seems perfectly fine when she and Diana come over for another visit. They're sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in his room and setting up a board game (Donna got Bruce and Diana to promise to play with them once they're done talking) when he asks her about it, and Donna just smiles. "They're still friends. In the end, isn't that the most important thing?"

He just looks at her. "Yeah."

He thinks maybe she's not telling him what's really on her mind. Then a little while later, when he gets up to go find Alfred with their snacks, Donna snatches his hand and makes him stop and look at her. "Our friendship is important to you, right?" she asks quietly.

He smiles. "Of course, Donna."

She gets up and gives him a hug, and he's still not entirely sure what's going on, but he hugs her back, anyway.

... ...

Roy Harper is a few years older than him and Donna and sometimes acts like one of those middle school kids he doesn't really like, but not all the time, so Dick thinks he's pretty cool. He meets Roy first because Ollie brings him by the Mansion, and he tries to answer as many of Roy's questions as he thinks Bruce will let him as they're waiting in the library for their mentors to finish talking.

When he tells Donna a few days later that he has no idea what the name _Speedy_ has to do with Green Arrow, Donna blushes a little and tells him that she doesn't know but she thinks it sounds kind of cute, anyway.

He just frowns and mumbles something about girls being weird.

... ...

Bette and Barbara are talking about Speedy during lunch one day, and he honestly thinks about sitting somewhere else.

Between the two of them, every girl in his class, and Donna, all he ever seems to hear about is Speedy lately. He's not sure why. Sure, he's an awesome friend, but he's kind of mean, too, sometimes, because he's older and likes to act like it. Not that civilians like Bette and Barbara would know it, but still.

But he sits himself across from them, anyway, like he usually does, and uncaps his thermos and holds it out for Bette before she even asks.

"I love Alfred's marinara pasta," Bette declares, twirling some onto her fork. She says that every time Dick has it for lunch. "Anyway, Mia _totally_ has a massive crush on Speedy. I can't say I blame her."

Barbara just shrugs and passes the thermos back to Dick. "I don't know. I still say Robin is my favorite."

Bette rolls her eyes. "Well, obviously Robin will always be the best," she says matter-of-factly, "but Speedy is the only other boy sidekick, so it's a nice change."

The redhead is all they continue to talk about, but Dick eats the rest of his lunch with a smile on his face, anyway.

... ...

He goes out with Barbara to the mall one day, just the two of them, because she needs to look for a present for her dad. He doesn't know if she asked Bette or not and Bette just couldn't make it, but he doesn't try to find out, either. Alfred chaperones them, and lets them walk around from store to store for about an hour before suggesting a place that may actually have something her dad would like.

Then once they're done shopping and browsing around a little more, they get frozen yogurt and sit on a bench outside while they eat it because it's a nice enough day to. They talk long after their desserts have melted until Alfred announces that they should be leaving soon.

When he walks her to her front door, she kisses his cheek quickly and says something he doesn't hear, and he's willing to bet they're both blushing by the time she's inside.

... ...

Barbara is sick from school the following Monday, and the first thing Bette says when she sits beside him at lunch is, "Do you not like me anymore or something?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You went out with Barbara over the weekend, right?"

"Yeah," he says slowly, still not understanding what that has to do with her accusation.

She rolls her eyes, too, when she sees that he's not entirely catching on. Then she says, "I was your best friend before Barbara, and we've never hung out after school as just the two of us," and he thinks he's starting to see what she's trying to get at. "I mean, I know I was out of town this weekend, but it's not like you've ever asked me _before_, and—"

"Bette, Barbara asked _me_ to hang out," he interrupts, knowing from experience to just cut Bette off before she starts rambling. "We went shopping for her dad's birthday present."

"Like that makes a difference," Bette mumbles, but the way she tries to fight a smile tells him that yes, it actually _does_ make a difference. "You owe me a date."

He laughs and hands over his thermos. "Okay, Bette," he says, turning to grab one of Alfred's giant cookies from his bag and completely missing the way Bette leans forward and presses a kiss at the corner of his lips. She giggles when he blushes, and he accidentally splits the cookie unevenly and hands her the bigger half.

... ...

He doesn't realize how long it's been since he's hung out with Donna until his bedroom door is opening and she's walking in, balancing a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on top of a tray he usually sees Alfred carrying around.

"This is just more proof that Alfred is psychic," she declares. "He said he was just on his way to bring this to you, but there were already two glasses of milk."

He laughs. They've had this ongoing joke about Alfred being omniscient or clairvoyant or all of these other crazy theories ever since she first came over. She smiles and places the tray on the nightstand and hops onto his bed, crawling next to him and sitting on her knees instead of cross-legged like she used to. He finds it weird but doesn't point it out.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's been a while since we've seen each other." She picks up two cookies and hands one to him. "So I wanted to hang out."

"Well, it's probably because you've been spending a lot of time with Roy lately."

She looks a little hurt and he instantly feels guilty and stupid. He honestly didn't know where that came from. Well, okay, he _did_, but he didn't want to have told her like that.

"Dick…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't _mean_ it like… I'm sorry."

She nods and nibbles on her cookie. Then she kind of tilts her head so that he's forced to look at her. "Roy's not a bad guy. You know that, right?"

"I know. It's just kind of weird having another sidekick around and like, having to split time your time with Roy when it used to be just the two of us," he explains, and she actually nods again and then looks away and takes a bigger bite of her cookie. "Hey," he says, because she actually looks kind of _sad_ right now. "Are you okay?"

"Diana told me that Barry and Orin were talking about their own sidekicks."

His eyes widen a little. "They're getting sidekicks, too?"

"I don't think so, but I think they might want to?" She shrugs a little and then frowns again. "Do you think they will?"

He shrugs, too, because he's not really sure. Maybe they will. It's not like Bruce, Diana, or Ollie really _planned_ on getting sidekicks – though he knows Ollie wasn't as obligated to taking Roy in as Bruce and Diana had been with them – but they all make pretty awesome teams with their mentors. He can't blame the other Leaguers for wanting to have that, too.

"I think it would be kind of cool," he admits. "I mean, someone's going to have to take over when the Justice League is all old and gray, right?"

Donna laughs, and he grins at that. It's been forever since he's heard her laugh that hard, or seen her really _smile_ like that. He's really missed this Donna, _his_ Donna – the Donna who he doesn't have to share with Roy or Diana or anyone else.

"If their sidekicks are both girls, you can't ditch me for them, okay?" she asks.

"You can't ditch me if they're both boys!" She's laughing again as she nods. "We have to promise."

"I promise." Then she shifts, lying with her back against the bed, and he spreads out beside her, staring up at the ceiling. "It would be fun to have more sidekicks, right? Because then it wouldn't be just us three with the League." He feels her thread her fingers with his, and he grins widely. "Maybe we could be our very own team someday."

"And we'll be better than the League!"

"And we can say that we started it all," she adds giddily. "I'm kind of excited now."

"Me too," he says, meaning it.

Then she leans over a little, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and he feels his face warm as he closes his eyes. Her hand shifts somewhat nervously, but he squeezes their fingers together before she can begin to pull away. He's not really sure what's supposed to happen next, but as long as he has Donna, he doesn't really mind now.


End file.
